Watch Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos Open Up About Coping With Bipolar Disorder

Since he went public with his bipolar disorder in the summer of 2012, Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos has become a kind of figurehead for ending the stigma around mental illness. He took home an award for his activism the following year at Erasing The Stigma Leadership Awards, and now he's raising awareness for mental illness once again, this time for the non-profit Bring Change 2 Mind. In the PSA, Angelakos opens up about learning he had bipolar disorder, and life after. ("I was diagnosed with bipolar when I was 18. I couldn't accept it at that age—I was trying to fit in and have fun.") He also drops some wisdom and inspiring words like "Achieve what you want to achieve—but you can only do that once you get help. Being as honest and transparent as you can be, is actually really, really empowering because it shows you have guts."